So who helped the Russians in targeting certain groups of people in their facebook ads .....

[Botany]

... that they bought?

It was a coup and we had treason.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/technology/facebook-russian-political-ads.html?mcubz=0


Fake Russian Facebook Accounts Bought $100,000 in Political Ads

Providing new evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election, Facebook disclosed on Wednesday that it had identified more than $100,000 worth of divisive ads on hot-button issues purchased by a shadowy Russian company linked to the Kremlin.

Most of the 3,000 ads did not refer to particular candidates but instead focused on divisive social issues such as race, gay rights, gun control and immigration, according to a post on Facebook by Alex Stamos, the company’s chief security officer. The ads, which ran between June 2015 and May 2017, were linked to some 470 fake accounts and pages the company said it had shut down.

Facebook officials said the fake accounts were created by a Russian company called the Internet Research Agency, which is known for using “troll” accounts to post on social media and comment on news websites.

The disclosure adds to the evidence of the broad scope of the Russian influence campaign, which American intelligence agencies concluded was designed to damage Hillary Clinton and boost Donald J. Trump during the election. Multiple investigations of the Russian meddling, and the possibility that the Trump campaign somehow colluded with Russia, have cast a shadow over the first eight months of Mr. Trump’s presidency.

[blueinredohio]

1. See who boycotts facebook. Any bets on how many?

[onecaliberal]

2. Kushner and possibly Uday and Qusay.

[arthritisR_US]

14. You have only half the picture.

[onecaliberal]

16. Well I was talking about their end obtaining funding setting it up through connections.

[arthritisR_US]

17. Again, only half the picture.

[clu]

19. i think i follow you

The OP is prefaced with "So who helped the Russians in targeting certain groups of people in their facebook ads ....."

My question is - to what extent was anyone really targeted? The scope of the Russian activity (in facebook anyways) was likely limited to friend requests sent to messageboard /pol/ members, and discussion between these people would appear to outsiders as a "buzz" of excitement for a certain opinion. this really only serves as proof to me that some people don't read their news critically, and to a large extent may be followers. as dumb as they sound, they can still be roused by a positive political message.

[arthritisR_US]

21. It wasn't Jill Stein, Bernie or the orange shitgibbon that was targeted.

Of the group, who was the only one speaking against the Russians andbfor national security/interest ? No surprises on the results.

[clu]

22. not to go full retard

aside, some areas in NY had 160k voters purged from their rolls during the dem primary. Hillary was the dem presidential nominee, so of course she was attacked. she wasn't attacked by the Russians for speaking out about Russians due to the podesta leak. sigh

[rzemanfl]

3. K& Fucking R. n/t

[SonofDonald]

4. That crap was in my "news" feed everyday

As I had a friend that didn't like Hilary she would post endless garbage about how bad Hilary was, it got to the point that she was putting out 20-30 posts a day and fully 75% of my feed was that crap.

I went away until the election was over, when I posted a political toon one day the woman was back and actually started arguing with me about how wrong I was about Hilary, I mentioned the endless disgusting junk she had been spewing during the election.

Her reply was that she hated trump also, I asked her then why didn't anyone see that in her posts?.

Turns out she was "liking" most of the fake news from Russia so it would show up on the feed of everybody she knew, I Mentioned this and took her to task for spreading disinformation and hate.

I explained that as it seemed she couldn't tell when someone was lying to her she was doing their job for them and should maybe think a little clearer next time.

Then I told her to fuck off.

I lost some "Freinds" on F'book that day.

But there's no more Russian bullshit in my news feed anymore, not a drop......

[Docreed2003]

5. The Mercer's and their Cambridge Analytica

It's been pretty well established that they used FB and other social media to target people based off their posts and simple things like those super popular "tests" for everything from "Which Friends character are you?" To "Where is your ideal city?". After gathering the information, they targeted people with pop up ads and carefully selected "news" articles to sway their opinions without them even noticing! They did the same crap in Kenya and were caught red handed!

FYI, the Mercer's are the folks behind Bannon, Conway, and Miller!

[dalton99a]

8. Hopefully the feds have talked to Parscale - The Trumps' "Internet Rasputin"

[Docreed2003]

10. Agreed....hope Mueller has him in his sights!

[Solly Mack]

11. Yep

[dalton99a]

6. Kick.

[Corgigal]

7. Facebook employees who did the buy,

Should be worried. Closed down Facebook until our govt gets the info we need. We own the Internet, not Facebook.

Put them on pause.

[TubbersUK]

9. There's an existing DU thread which may answer that question

The mystery of Iadonisi's secret work for Trump campaign.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-mystery-behind-a-flynn-associates-quiet-work-for-the-trump-campaign/2017/05/04/fc86980e-3044-11e7-9534-00e4656c22aa_story.html

Matea Gold May 4 at 5:47 PM

Jon Iadonisi, a friend and business associate of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, had two under-the-radar projects underway in the fall of 2016.

One of his companies was helping Flynn with an investigative effort for an ally of the Turkish government — details of which Flynn revealed only after he was forced to step down from his White House post.

At the same time, Iadonisi was also doing work for the Trump campaign, although his role was not publicly reported, according to people familiar with his involvement.

The project Iadonisi was engaged in for Trump’s campaign focused on social media, according to a person with knowledge of the arrangement. What that work consisted of — and why his company was not disclosed as a vendor in campaign finance reports — remains a mystery.

The Trump campaign did not report any payments to Iadonisi or his firms. However, Federal Election Commission reports show that the Trump campaign paid $200,000 on Dec. 5 for “data management services” to Colt Ventures

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029019845

[Nevernose]

12. I don't think "collusion" is illegal

I've asked many times of many people, and while it's shady as hell, sitting around trading gossip with the FSB isn't technically illegal. It's also not an area of law that many people, even lawyers, have any specialized knowledge in.

And then this story broke. If these Russian ad buys can be traced back to specific (or I guess even generalized) GOP conversations, it should be game over. That's coordinating with outside groups, that's accepting money from a foreign agent on purpose, and it's bribery.

[RandomAccess]

13. Doesn't it depend on what they're colluding about?

If I collude with my neighbor to throw a surprise party for his wife, no harm done.

If I collude with my neighbor to kill his wife, BIG harm done, even if the deed never happens.

If your "gossip" that gets traded involves information that can be used against the U.S., such as which voters where could be vulnerable to being persuaded against Hillary or for Trump, that's a B.F.D. and quite probably against election laws.

[DeminPennswoods]

23. No, taking $s from foreign govts for election/campaign purposes

is illegal - a violation of campaign finance law.

[arthritisR_US]

18. Then you don't understand election laws or treason.

[arthritisR_US]

15. Tell me something, who during the election and during the

Primaries benefited from them? The only candidate hurt was Hillary.,old memes and rumours were proliferated and candidates ran on them ad nauseous ...interesting.....

[tblue37]

20. Jared, Giles-Parscale, and Cambridge Analytica. nt